Drogheda effort falls just short

Drogheda United 1 Dynamo Kiev 2: A goal four minutes from time condemned a valiant Drogheda United side to a first leg defeat against Dynamo Kiev in their Champions League qualifier at Dalymount Park this evening.

Oleksander Aliiev tormented the League of Ireland champions throughout the tie, but the homeside should be commended for a fightback from 1-0 down that threatened briefly to derail the Ukrainian giants.

Ultimately though, despite a pulsating second half, the technical ability of the visitors won out and had they failed to recover from Adam Hughes' second half equaliser, Drogheda would have had goalkeeper Jamie Ewing to thank.

Ewing was partially culpable for the opener when he failed to punch Aliiev's free-kick to safety and Taras Mykhalyk managed to steer the ball back through the crowd and into the net.

The goalkeeper's contribution was magnificent, however, and Drogheda retain a sliver of hope ahead of the second leg thanks to his steely refusal to allow Kiev hit his net more than twice.

Paul Doolin's side were feeding off scraps in the first half but Ollie Cahill did sound a warning when he pounced on a loose ball in midfield and drove at the Kiev defence.

The captain showed a great turn of pace and opened up the angle for a low shot across the goal from 18 yards but the goalkeeper got down well to his left to turn it around for a corner.

Kiev took the lead in the 23rd through Mykhalyk and looked more than comfortable for the remainder of the half.  However, there was a lack of urgency and their failure to push home the advantage cost them immediately after the break.

On the left-hand side Fahrudin Kudozovic drifted inside his man and clipped a beautiful ball onto the head of the unmarked Hughes who had timed his run to perfection.

Hughes rose to glance the ball goalward and, despite the goalkeeper getting a strong arm on the effort, he failed to prevent it dropping in as the Drogheda man put him under pressure.

Kiev were rocked for a period and repeatedly presented possession to Drogheda in front of their back four, but their sloppiness went unpunished, by Cahill in particular.

At the other end they still presented a huge threat and went close through Aliiev and Bangura before Ognjen Vukojevic's shot struck the post.

Graham Gartland deserves credit for a pair of timely interventions before Aliiev, easily Kiev's most impressive player on the night, found Artern Milevsky deep inside the box, but the forward's shot was smothered by Ewing.

The goalkeeper was on hand again when he denied Kiev with his legs on two more occasions but there was nothing he could co about Aliiev's near post strike in the 86th minute after the midfielder turned the defending Richie Baker inside out.

Ewing then brilliantly prevented a third at the death when he repelled a sweetly struck volley from Vukojevic to keep a distant dream alive.